Lovisa Löwenborg, a real estate investor currently based in southern Sweden and founder of Female Fund, Luxembourg’s first women-owned fund, has plenty of experience in the domain of women-focused investments. In 2018, Löwenborg co-founded Wire Invest, an investor group for women to invest in real estate, a structure that has grown “extremely fast” over the past five years, Löwenborg told Delano during an interview.
Wire Invest is made up of more than 600 women--most investors are based in Sweden and other Scandinavian countries--and has invested more than SEK 43m (around €3.74m) in 22 projects. Besides investing in concrete projects, they also offer workshops on real estate investments for women.
After growing Wire Invest, “I just ended up with a dream of starting a global fund for women, where we all can do more international investments and where we can raise assets from different countries,” said Löwenborg, which led her to establish the Female Fund.
“Luxembourg is the place to be”
Löwenborg explained that she wanted the new fund to have an international aspect. “And if you want to do something in more countries, at the same time--like a global fund--Luxembourg is the place to be. And I found that out, pretty quick, actually.”
“I had a look at some options,” she added, “but I think the history of the environment in Luxembourg, and everything that you also get on an international level when you can [say] that your structure is in Luxembourg is worth it. So that was pretty easy for me.”
The Benelux area, together with the Nordic market, are the first two markets that we are going to cover now
Starting a fund is a “huge project,” but Luxembourg has been very helpful and supportive during the 15-month journey to launch the fund, Löwenborg said, who felt that the financial environment really “wanted to see this [happen].” “And now, in September, I got the approval from the CSSF.”
“The Benelux area, together with the Nordic market, are the first two markets that we are going to cover now,” Löwenborg told Delano. “We are also working a bit on the UK market,” but “the Lux area is very important.”
Being a role model for other women
Was she surprised that there was not already a women-owned fund here in Luxembourg?
“I’m not surprised,” Löwenborg answered. “It’s really a huge risk to do this. But on the other hand, it’s very important that someone takes the role model and shows women that it’s possible.” Women that have “made it” helping other women is key, she added. And to get more women into the fund industry, Löwenborg also wants to invite women to be under her “umbrella.”
ESG and investment goals
The fund aims to have a “global change” in many ways, and the ESG aspect of the fund was also very important, explained Löwenborg. The Female Fund is classified as an article 8 fund, meaning that it promotes environmental and/or social characteristics.
We have to work differently to attract women to finance, to investments
Projects, therefore, may focus on sectors such as “energy, how to build houses and how to set up the environment around houses, how to work with social impact, how to create good roads and spaces so you can go by bicycle, or buses,” Löwenborg said. The fund aims to raise capital from female investors around the world this autumn in order to start investing in green initiatives early next year.
Why women?
“We have to work differently to attract women to finance, to investments,” argued Löwenborg. That’s why it’s so important to have a fund that raises money solely from women.
“With this fund, and the concept around Female Fund, I wanted to build up something that women feel like, ‘I didn’t invest my money before, but with this concept, I’m happy to do it.’ With my experience of how to actually get women more involved and interested, I can see that we have to do it differently,” she said. “The concept is clear, it will be like a female investor club.”
This will allow more women to interact and to “activate” them, involving them in the financial world. “There are so many women with good businesses and savings accounts that don’t have a way of how to start to invest. They don’t get the knowledge and the chances,” said Löwenborg. “But in this way--and how we present it in an innovative way--[it] can attract women.”
This article was published for the Delano Finance newsletter, the weekly source for financial news in Luxembourg. .